Editing Alberto Santos-Dumont (section)

====''Oiseau de Proie I''====
Santos-Dumont decided not to compete for the prizes with the hybrid, but on 20 July signed up for the tests and over the next three days continued to test the plane tethered to the balloon, to practise steering. Throughout the tests he realised that, although the balloon helped take-off, it made flight difficult as the drag generated was too great.<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|pp=279–280}} The airship was discarded, and the biplane received the name ''Oiseau de Proie'' ("Bird of Prey") from the press.<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|pp=279–280}} The ''Oiseau de Proie'' had been inspired by the hydroplane tested by Voisin. Like the water glider, the invention also consisted of a cellular biplane based on the structure created in 1893 by Australian researcher [[Lawrence Hargrave]], which offered good support and rigidity.{{sfnm|1a1=Hoffman|1y=2010|1p=275|2a1=Barros|2y=2021|2p=8}} The plane was 4 metres high, 10 metres long, and had a span of 12 metres,<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|p=391}} with a wing area of 50 square metres. Its mass was 205 kilograms. The wings were attached to a beam, in front of which lay the rudder, consisting of a cell identical to those of the wings. At the rear end was the propeller, powered by a 24&nbsp;hp Levavasseur engine. The landing gear had two wheels, and the pilot stood upright.<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|pp=279–280}} The 23 September 1906 issue of ''Le Sport Universel Illustré'' published the technical details of the 14-bis.<ref name=DaCosta2016 />{{rp|p=36}}<ref name=Visoni2015>{{Cite journal|last=Visoni|first=Rodrigo Moura|date=2015|title=Santos Dumont no Guia politicamente incorreto da História do Brasil|language=pt-br|url=https://www.sbhc.org.br/arquivo/download?ID_ARQUIVO=2032|journal=Revista Brasileira de História da Ciência|volume=8|number=2|pages=44–56|doi=10.53727/rbhc.v8i2.197|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425201441/https://www.sbhc.org.br/arquivo/download?ID_ARQUIVO=2032|archive-date=2021-04-25|url-status=live|trans-title=Santos Dumont in the book The politically incorrect Guide to Brazilian History|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|p=51}}

On 29 July, using a donkey and a system of cables, Santos-Dumont hoisted the ''Oiseau de Proie'' to the top of a tower<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|pp=279–280}} 13 metres high (2 metres were stuck in the ground), installed a few days earlier on his property in Neuilly. This frame was very similar to the one Ferber had used at Chalais-Meudon for the May 1905 experiments with the 6-bis. The plane, suspended on a movable hook connected to an inclined steel wire, glided without a propeller 60 metres from the top of the tower to a smaller one, only six metres long, on the Boulevard de la Seine. This allowed Santos-Dumont to get a feel for the aeroplane and to study its centre of gravity.<ref>DeGoul, Marius. ''L'aeroplane Santos Dumont'', ''L'Aérophile''. Paris: Aéroclub de France, 14o ano, no 7, jul. 1906, pp. 167–169.</ref><ref name=Barros2021 />{{rp|p=8}} In August the 14-bis was unsuccessful in trying to take off because the 24-hp engine was not powerful enough. On 13 September, the 14-bis made a 7 to 13-metre test flight with a 50&nbsp;hp Antoinette engine,<ref name=Studart2006 />{{rp|p=18}}<ref name=Dias2005 />{{rp|p=29}} at 8:40 a.m,<ref name=Barros2006a />{{rp|p=41}} which ended in an accident that damaged the propeller and landing gear,<ref name=Dias2006 />{{rp|p=74}} but that was praised by [[La Nature]] magazine.<ref name=Barros2003 />{{rp|p=322}} On 30 September he interrupted the tests of the 14-bis to compete in the [[Gordon Bennett Cup (ballooning)|Gordon Bennett Cup]] with the ''Deux Amériques'' balloon. He abandoned it after an accident, having flown 134 kilometres in 6 hours and 20 minutes.<ref name=Barros2003 />{{rp|p=323}} The accident occurred while attempting a manoeuvre that caused the engine gear to fracture his arm.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://santos-dumont.net/acidente.htm|title=Acidente |type=Newspaper clipping |website=Santos-Dumont |language=pt-br|access-date=2021-09-05|archive-date=2007-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110071533/http://santos-dumont.net/acidente.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sd8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Santos+Dumont&pg=PA1104|title=International Balloon Race |magazine=Popular Mechanics|volume=8|number=11 |page=1104 |date=November 1906|publisher=Hearst Magazines |quote=Santos Dumont was one of these, being obliged to descend for surgical treatment of his arm, which was badly torn.|access-date=2022-08-01}}</ref>